'The Graduate' and 'Butch Cassidy' Star Katharine Ross Defined the '60s — Here's What She's Been Up to Since Then
Katharine Ross, the co-star of classic films like The Graduate and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, was one of the actresses who defined the late '60s. The wide-eyed beauty represented the fresh, youthful nature of the era — just think of the famous final moments of The Graduate in which, sitting alongside Dustin Hoffman after leaving her would-be husband at the altar, her face flashes with a mix of idealism and growing uncertainty, all without saying a word.
Read on for a look back at how Katharine Ross became one of the ultimate '60s it girls — and what the mostly retired, now 84-year-old actress has been up to in recent years.
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An actress who happens to be in the movies
A California native, Ross began her career as part of the Actors Workshop and acted on the stage. She then moved into TV and racked up appearances on shows like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley and The Wild Wild West in the early '60s. She made her film debut in the 1965 Western Shenandoah.
Ross was then in the films The Singing Nun and Mister Buddwing in 1966 and Games in 1967. While she had already accumulated a number of credits by the time she was cast in the 1967 film, The Graduate was undeniably the work that made her a star. She earned an Oscar nomination for her role, and was praised for her embodiment of a modern young woman at a crossroads.
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In a contemporary LIFE magazine article titled "Sudden Stardom of The Graduate Girl," Ross was skeptical about her newfound fame, saying, "I'm an actress who happens to be in the movies. I'm not a movie star . . . That system is dying anyway and I'd like to help it along."
Two years later, the Golden Globe winner had a part in yet another iconic '60s hit, playing Robert Redford's love interest in the Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Both The Graduate and Butch Cassidy captured the bold New Hollywood style of the time, with charismatic casts and a spirit of rebellion. In 1969, the same year as Butch Cassidy, Ross acted in another Western with Redford, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.
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Ross' biggest film of the '70s was the 1975 thriller The Stepford Wives, in which she played an intelligent and creative wife and mother who moves to a suburb filled with eerily perfect women — who turn out to be robots created as part of a devious, sexist scheme. The film, like The Graduate and Butch Cassidy before it, has been a frequent reference point in the decades since its release, and is known for illustrating the anxieties of its era.
As the '70s continued, Ross acted in Voyage of the Damned (1976) and The Betsy, The Swarm and The Legacy (all 1978).
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Katharine Ross: Later roles
In the '80s, Ross appeared in a variety of TV movies and starred in the Dynasty spinoff The Colbys. The show wasn't nearly as popular as Dynasty, and it only ran from 1985 to 1987. Ross stepped out of the spotlight and didn't act much in the '90s, but made a comeback in 2001, when she played the title character's therapist in the cult movie Donnie Darko.
In an oral history of Donnie Darko, one of the film's producers recalled how Ross hadn't worked in a long time, and they assumed she had fully retired. When they met her, they thought they'd have to convince her to take the part, and were pleasantly surprised to find she was actually interested in it.
Ross most recently acted in the films The Hero (2017) and Attachments (2019).
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Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott: A Hollywood power couple
Off the screen, Ross has had a colorful personal life, as she's been married five times since 1960. Since 1984, however, she's had a lasting marriage to the eternally charming, mustachioed actor Sam Elliott. They first crossed paths when Elliott had a bit part in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — as he put it, "I didn't dare try to talk to her then. She was the leading lady. I was a shadow on the wall, a glorified extra in a bar scene."
The actors didn't actually meet until they co-starred in the 1978 horror film The Legacy. They then starred together in the made-for-TV Western Conagher in 1991, and in the 2017 film The Hero she played his ex-wife.
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In an interview, Elliott said, "Working with Katharine is incredible for me. It’s always been. I think our time on Conagher was one of the highlights of my career. I know that I’m always gonna feel that way." When asked in 2017 whether it was Elliott's mustache, swagger or seductive voice that most attracted her when they first met, Ross said, "Probably all that and more. We were working together and one thing led to another. And here we are." The couple has a daughter, Cleo Rose Elliott, who is a musician.
Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott have kept things down to earth in their 40 years of marriage. As Elliott said in an NPR interview, "I think really what it boils down to is we love each other, and we work at it. And I think more importantly than anything, it takes wanting to be married."
Ross may not be acting much anymore, but she'll always be one of the most charming '60s stars and half of one of our favorite Hollywood power couples.
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